“The civic crisis is a reality”, David Lisnard calls for a democratic renewal

The 2022 presidential and legislative elections showed strong abstention and a rise in radical ideas. Several elements that suggest that France could go through a serious civic crisis. For David Lisnard, LR mayor of Cannes and president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), “the civic crisis is a major crisis. It is a reality and it is not new, it is even growing.”

A crisis of the institution

“Electoral abstention is one of the manifestations of this crisis that the country is going through, but not only”, explains the Republican mayor. “There are also liberal and extremist expressions, and then forms of violence against the holders of public authority, including local elected officials.” This violence is all the stronger on social networks, which are the scene of many overflows according to the president of the AMF. “It is the denigration of the carriers of speech, and not the contrary argument which takes precedence.”

Major structural phenomena that are part, reminds David Lisnard, in distant origins. “It dates back to May 1968. We are in the midst of questioning the institutions.” A Western crisis, which is even more marked in France, where electoral abstention is at record highs.

“This is explained by economic factors”, continues the mayor. “The executive has been leading for five years by depoliticizing the debate, saying ‘I am the only representative of rationality therefore all those who are against me are unreasonable’, it is very dangerous”. According to David Lisnard, this is what projects a large number of people towards extremes.

Today, France therefore finds itself in the midst of a “crisis of the institution”.

Recover “the full exercise of his freedom”

The mayor nevertheless believes in stemming this trend. “There are cycle effects”, he specifies at the microphone of Europe 1. “We discuss it, and we become aware of it.”

The civic crisis leads above all to a crisis of responsibility, according to David Lisnard. Incivism remains a very modern notion. “It is the exercise of his freedom in the public space, and therefore of his responsibility.” It is necessary to find the “full exercise of its freedom” but also “the sense of the national community”.

The mayor illustrates his remarks by taking the example of the purchase of counterfeits on the Internet. “When you buy counterfeit clothes and drugs, you behave like a consumer, and no longer as a citizen. That’s not enough to make a living.”

The mayor therefore calls for “the exercise of critical reason” and above all, an “educational renewal”.

A return to full decentralization

At the microphone of Europe 1, David Lisnard also insists on being “very attached to decentralization”. “To advance our country, we must decentralize, but also tax exemption.” To face the civic crisis, France must “rediscover the sense of proximity”.

The president of the AMF deplores a “decentralization that has never been completed. The recentralisation, on the contrary, has increased and is very clear.” It is a practice that the mayor considers “archaic” and “source of inefficiency”.

David Lisnard draws up the observation of a state that is both omnipotent and weak, incapable of managing its sovereign functions. “Local elected officials are ready for a partnership with Elisabeth Borne,” he continues. “Elected officials are used to having tense but cordial relations with the executive.” But for effective interventions, we must first take stock of things.